Hubs and I just returned from a vacation to the beach. For me, it was a vacation from The Beach. Since June my food plan has been for the most part South Beach-friendly. I usually eat six mini-meals per day and the food I eat is “clean,” meaning unprocessed. I also stay away from sugar as it is an addictive substance for me. And I exercise five to six days per week. These actions, plus working on emotional “stuff” have helped me shed 81 pounds. But during vacation, accept for the fact that I continued to abstain from all addictive substances, I didn’t follow my normal eating and exercise behaviors. And I paid the price.
Eating frequency: I immediately fell into step with my hub’s “three squares” eating schedule vs. my normal six mini meals. This certainly isn’t hub’s fault. He is VERY accommodating and if I had spoken up, we could have planned our schedules accordingly. It was just too easy to go with the flow.
Foods eaten: Again, I continued to abstain from sugar, but I ate way more carbs in the form of grains than I am used to. And my portions were larger than normal.
Exercise: Um, I ran twice (four miles each outing) and I lifted weights once.
So how did this work for me? By mid-week I felt very lethargic. I fell asleep any time we were in the car for more than 20 minutes. We visited areas of historic interest (Kittyhawk, Yorktown, Jamestowne) and on one of those days all I wanted to do was go back to the hotel and sleep. It’s very unusual for me to feel this way. Normally I have enough energy for myself and a few other people.
Today was my first day back to the office. I brought some snacks to my department meeting to thank my colleagues for the hard work they do day and and day out. I stayed away from the sugary stuff but did enjoy a bit of the cheeseball (love me some cheeseball).
Lessons learned: The South Beach way of eating works for me. I feel better when my food plan is built around lean meats, veggies, some fruit and limited whole grains. And feeling better means I exercise harder and more often. So beginning tomorrow…no beginning right now, I’m back on the wagon. Tomorrow’s meals are packed and in the fridge. They are squeaky-clean.
Weight loss blogger The Anti-Jared recently posted about recommitting 100% to his efforts. He’s challenging another blogger to join him. He’s also inviting those who visit his site to recommit. The challenge is to decide how much weight to lose by December 31 and get to work. I’m not one who can choose a number of pounds to lose. But what I can do is recommit to following my food plan day in and day out and to train like the triathlete and half-marathoner I am becomming. If I do that the pounds will continue to drop.
Vacation’s over. It’s time to get back to it.
482gr8 